Intravascular interventional procedures for providing an artificial embolism are desirable in some patients for controlling internal bleeding, preventing blood supply to tumors, or relieving pressure in the vessel wall near an aneurysm. Several approaches are known for providing an artificial embolism, including the use of an inflatable, detachable balloon or the injection of a coagulative substance. Another approach utilizes an occlusive wire coil, referred to as an embolization coil, and delivery system for positioning the coil at a desirable site in a blood vessel.
In some procedures, multiple embolization coils are used to occlude blood flow. For example, in particularly large aneurysms, multiple embolization coils may be needed to sufficiently fill the aneurysm to relieve pressure in the vessel wall. Similarly, multiple coils may be used to facilitate a certain artificial embolism technique. For example, those using the scaffold technique may place a first coil followed by a second coil, the first coil providing a support (“scaffold”) for the second coil.
With some existing embolization coil delivery systems, an operator must load an embolization coil from a coil-loading cartridge into an indwelling catheter. The coil is then pushed through the catheter by a delivery wire until the coil emerges from the distal tip of the catheter and, in some instances, assumes a folded, convoluted configuration. If the operator wishes to deploy a second embolization coil, the operator must load another embolization coil from a coil-loading cartridge into the catheter for delivery and push the second embolization coil out of the distal tip of the catheter.
There exists a need for new systems and methods for delivering multiple embolization coils.